Congress sets eyes on NDA's secular allies for 2014

In the presidential election runup, the Congress has sniffed a chance of a UPA-III coalition coming back to power in 2014, though with some realignment.

As the NDA has been fractured, with allies Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Shiv Sena deserting the BJP to support the UPA's presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, the Congress is hoping to cash in on the 'communal-secular' divide to further isolate the main Opposition party.

The UPA is pinning hopes on parties that would not like to align with the BJP for the fear of losing their Muslim vote bank.

With Nitish Kumar (left) jittery over Narendra Modi’s rise in the BJP, the Congress hopes to win JD-U to its fold; Jaganmohan Reddy will also prefer the UPA over the BJP-led NDA

While the Samajwadi Party is already soft towards the Congress, it's parties like the JD-U and the YSR Congress Party of Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy that the ruling alliance is targeting. These parties are likely to do well in their respective states and can help the UPA boost its numbers.

Narendra Modi's likely projection as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate will only help the Congress's cause. Already, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's unease with Modi has seen the JD-U gravitating away from the BJP. Apparently targeting Modi, he recently said the NDA's next prime ministerial candidate should have secular credentials.

On Friday, the party further raised the pitch. Much to the embarrassment of the BJP, it spoke the Congress's language as JD-U's national spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari said finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, was not responsible for the country's grim economic situation, which was a result of a host of issues, including the global meltdown. The BJP had squarely blamed the finance minister for the price rise and accused him of mismanagement of the economy and the black money issue.

Pranab Mukherjee

Tiwari also asked the BJP to review its stand on the presidential polls and back Pranab. 'Instead of asking us to review our stand to support Mukherjee's candidature in the presidential polls, the BJP should itself review its stand and support the UPA nominee, given his vast experience and contributions in public life,' he said.

A senior Congress leader said since there was no 'fundamental faultlines' in the UPA, the presidential poll has provided an opportunity to the JD-U to review its position vis-à-vis the BJP.

Congress managers claimed that only parties like the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal would remain with the NDA, but other secular regional parties such as the JD-U could go for a realignment.

There was also a strong possibility of the Left Front returning to UPA-III. A senior leader said the Congress-Left alliance in UPA-I 'was not unnatural', though there were differences on certain issues. But with the CPM keen to drive a wedge between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress to prevent Mamata Banerjee from frustrate her 'dream of emerging as a national leader' by doubling her Lok Sabha seats.

Congress strategists have also opened a communication channel with YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy. His party earlier this week surprised the BJP by announcing support to Pranab's candidature.

Sources in YRS Congress said the party will not go with the NDA as Jagan's support base has a predominant minority base. A section of Congress is pressing the high command to patch up with Jagan before the next general elections as the recent bypoll results in Andhra Pradesh have shown that he could spoil the Congress's party in Andhra Pradesh, which gave it 33 Lok Sabha seats last time, in 2014.